Syncing Bookmarks on Your iPhone: Firefox Home and Xmarks

This week, syncing bookmarks from your desktop computer to your iPhone just got incredibly easier, thanks to two new App Store arrivals in the form of Firefox Home and Xmarks.

Late Thursday, Apple finally approved the long-awaited Firefox Home, a free app that syncs to your Firefox browser on the desktop and allows you to access that application’s history, bookmarks and open tabs, exactly the way you left them on your computer.

“Get up and go and have everything waiting for you on your iPhone,” the Firefox Home app description promises. “Firefox Home is secure from end-to-end so your data is always safe. And, of course, it’s free.”

In addition to accessing open tabs and tapping on your bookmarks, Firefox Home also gives you quick access to your favorite and important sites thanks to their “Awesome Bar” -- just start typing!

Likewise, the new 99 cent Xmarks for iPhone app also lets you view bookmarks and open tabs from your favorite browser -- regardless of whether it’s Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari for Mac or Google Chrome (that includes Windows systems for all but Safari).

Xmarks for iPhone works with the free desktop Xmarks client available for Mac or Windows, allowing you to sync your bookmarks and even your open tabs between browsers and platforms, then view them on the go, right on your iPhone or iPod touch.

It’s important to note that neither of these new apps actually use or modify the bookmarks already on your iPhone -- they’re self-contained access to the bookmarks on your desktop browser(s) only. But if you don’t use MobileMe or sync your desktop browser’s bookmarks manually via iTunes, both Firefox Home and Xmarks for iPhone appear to be a great way to keep your desktop and mobile device in sync.

Both new apps are available for download now from the App Store. Firefox Home is absolutely free and requires iOS 3.1 or later; Xmarks for iPhone is 99 cents and requires iOS 3.0 or later and both are compatible with iPhone, iPod touch or iPad (though neither are currently universal apps).